Journey Group is an independent design company. We’ve served clients and causes since 1992.

Who We Are

Curious & Brave

Our print and digital studios design solutions that advance the missions of our partners. Our story-centered philosophy motivates us to attend to our past, present and future. Our commitment to excellence requires us to maintain a narrow focus and invest in long-term partnerships.

Our Clients

Cultural

We collaborate with cultural institutions to uncover and explore connections from the past.

When We Began

Art & Copy

— EST. 1992 1992

Journey Group began in 1992 with the design of a single magazine.

The principles that motivated us back then still guide our far-ranging creative work on behalf of our partners, whether in print or in pixels. In those days, we combined arresting images, dynamic type, narrative design and best-in-class production to give our clients an edge.

For more than 25 years, Journey Group has told brand stories, balancing familiarity and surprise, message and metaphor. As an independent design company, we have always forged our own path, following several guiding lights along the way.

Fit.

We work with clients we believe in. At Journey Group, we’re invested in building long-term partnerships with our clients, growing trust and earning the right to take risks in support of their mission.

Where We Live

Warm & Open

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We think of our space as a physical repre­sen­tation of who we are.

We work in a house that is more than 100 years old; it’s welcoming and
comfort­able, suffused with light and designed with an eye for beauty and a love of craft. Artwork
and furniture are moved around when the mood strikes, contributing to a sense of openness and generosity
rather than ownership or possession.

As we cultivate a shared life with our colleagues, the house transforms itself into a home: a dwelling
we share with creative partners and friends—not just a building where we report in to work every day.

We depend on our surroundings obliquely to embody the moods and ideas we respect and then to remind us
of them. We look to our buildings to hold us, like a kind of psycho­logical mould, to a helpful
vision of ourselves.

Alain de Botton,The Architecture of Happiness

Journey Group’s office is a few blocks from Charlottesville’s downtown pedestrian mall, which we regard as an extension of our workspace. We venture out for coffee or lunch and run into our neighbors and clients. Our daily work flows into the life of our town, and we cherish this proximity to our broader community.

Why We Design

Mission &Motivation

Humans need stories.

They help us make sense of our world and ourselves—lending context to the
chaos and giving form to our lives. As a design company, our mission is clear: to influence the
skeptical, inform the questioning and invigorate the apathetic. We seek to accomplish this mission
through the design of stories.

Stories bind us together in a shared life. And in a modern age plagued by anxiety and cynicism, honest
storytellers are needed now more than ever. As we seek meaning, we’re liable to find it anywhere.
Humans are particularly susceptible to visual representation. Images are potent: A single photograph
can communicate an entire story in a split second.

As visual storytellers, we’ve been mindful of this cognitive bias for more than 25 years. We take our
responsibility as designers quite seriously. Images and words are continually forming and changing us.
We use images and stories to make decisions and order our loves. To whom should I give my time and
money? Who is telling the truth? Who has hope for tomorrow?

At Journey Group, we’re perpetually wrestling with these questions. We take our cues from the Shakers:
What can we make that is useful? And if it’s useful, let’s make it beautiful. In this way, we are
motivated to design, telling stories that serve and shaping images that move us toward flourishing.

Stories bind us together in a shared life. And in a modern age plagued by anxiety and cynicism,
honest storytellers are needed now more than ever.

How We Think

Method & Process

Method

Journey Group brings unconventional expertise to every project. Whether it’s our depth of
knowledge in a particular sector or the depth of skill in our print and digital studios, we draw on
decades of honed experience to tell clients’ stories well.

Our accounts team becomes part of your team, eager to understand and tackle your biggest challenges,
carrying the mission of your organization forward. Like reporters chasing a lead, we bring journalistic
curiosity to every client engagement. We ask the questions that rarely get asked. This spirit of
inquiry animates every step of our process.

We push against the expectation that we’ll simply produce a deliverable and then walk away. We want to
serve you and earn the right to keep on serving you. Journey Group endeavors to travel with our clients
through many seasons, and we strive to make that feeling mutual. The longevity of our partner
relationships has been a top Journey Group priority since the beginning. We approach each new project
with this long-term, long-trek mindset.

Good design depends on a proven approach. Here’s ours.

Process

Define vision.

We learn where you’re coming from and where you want to go. Through a robust discovery, scoping and
sense-making process, we kick off your project by shaping a plan that first identifies and then maps
a route to your destination. Our studio managers oversee every step of the process, shepherding each
project from start to finish, so that all work is on time, on budget and on brand.

Develop culture.

Balancing insight and intuition, our small teams of specialists craft your story. Our digital
designers, content strategists and developers make and then execute a plan for your organization’s
new online expression. Our print designers, art directors and production experts devise the best way
for your brand to live on paper. Solving problems and directing narratives is at the heart of our
empathetic design practice: We tirelessly shape, select, edit and create—all with the goal of
galvanizing your organization’s culture and inspiring belief from your audience.

Deliver experiences.

The final product, whether in print or on screens, conveys a renewed vision for your organization.
We engage your audience with carefully chosen images and words, employing metaphor and memory to
create long-lasting impressions. Because human-centered design doesn’t end with the deliverable.
Our work tells a story that endures long after a reader shelves the publication or a site visitor
closes a browser window.

This website contains copyrighted materials. All rights are reserved for and by the client, artist and/or
Journey Group, Inc. Materials may not be altered or republished in any way without express, advance written
permission from Journey Group, Inc. All logos, works-for-hire and official artworks are the property of
their respective organizations.